The WSU Viticulture and Enology Program director believes the new Wine Science Center is critical to the future of Washington State’s wine industry, and thus has been seeking out a location for the new building.
The commissioners of the Port of Benton have actively begun a search for the best location for the center and are looking a lease deal for property located off GW Way and 1st Street in Richland, which is a stone’s throw from the WSU Tri-Cities campus off George Washington Way.
The new WSU Tri-Cities facility would be able to accommodate the growing wine industry testing that is required of each new batch. Currently a research facility in Prosser is able to only perform about 1/5 of that which is needed because of the rapid growth of the industry.
The hope is to develop a wine library and wine analysis laboratory that has regional and international impact, along with expanding a teaching vineyard at the Richland campus.